It was followed by the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus, its 6.2-inch flagship smartphone, which shipped 5.3 million units in the first quarter. For example, China which is one of the biggest handset markets has been experiencing a decline in the demand for handsets within the first quarter of 2018. The key markets for Chinese brands expansion so far has been India, South East Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Samsung is tied with Xiaomi for first ...

"Oppo and Vivo have established strong brands in China, where they are able to sell both mid-range and high-end smartphone models", said Jusy Hong, director, mobile devices, at IHS Markit. Although smartphone shipment volume declined, Samsung announced its blended average selling price for handsets was $250 per unit, up from $170 at the same time previous year.

Samsung and Apple remain the top two players, but the market as a whole shrunk by 2.4%.

Canalys said there have been no signs of recovery since the market started to decline in Q4 past year. "An exception, however, is Oppo, whose share increases by 1ppt year on year to 3.2%, placing the brand in 5th position in total smartphone". Apple stays at second with a slight increase from 50.8 million to 52.2 million shipments, which translates to a higher market share of 15.1%. According to Anthony Scarsella, IDC research manager, this drop in sales has a lot to do with the high price tags on the latest premium flagship smartphones.

However Xiaomi recorded an astonishing 129 per cent rise, selling 29.3 million units and securing eight per cent of the market.

Xiaomi: As mentioned in this article published earlier today, Xiaomi's numbers are downright incredible. OPPO, vivo, Samsung in the top 10 smartphone category reported declines in Q1 2018.

As per latest regulatory filings in India, Xiaomi India's revenue was Rs 8,379.33 crore ($1.25 billion) in 2016-17, a seven-fold increase from the preceding year and its operations in the country turned profitable within about three years of entry. Huawei is trying to mold itself to offer midrange budget smartphones to the users and to create a strong market share.

The most depressing news of the first quarter this year, however, revolves around ZTE. In the first quarter of 2017, 353.8 million units of smartphones were shipped globally. The Lenovo brand declined in India and in rest of APAC, while Motorola continued to do well in LATAM and USA smartphone markets.